


Backlash

by Lurkinginthecorner



Category: Hunger Games (2012) RPF, Josh Hutcherson - Fandom, Real Person Fiction, jennifer lawrence - Fandom
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-18
Updated: 2014-01-18
Packaged: 2018-01-09 04:50:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,501
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1141644
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lurkinginthecorner/pseuds/Lurkinginthecorner
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>With Josh's help, Jennifer faces the consequences of being involved in a controversy that hurt her coworkers.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Backlash

**Author's Note:**

> This is NOT part of the "I Loved You All Along" universe.

When I walk on set this morning, I’m greeted by a sudden, uneasy silence. I lift my gaze up and find everybody staring at me with icy glares that leave me frowning in confusion. As I keep walking towards Francis and sense the heavy weight of their gazes persistently following me, I feel small, crushed.

It has never happened before. And I have no fucking clue what prompted this unusual behavior from them.

I walk slower and look down to avoid their accusing faces, until I’m finally forced to look up when I hear Francis’s deep voice address me in his typical encouraging tone.

“Are you okay?”

His smile looks a little strained, as if the heavy atmosphere was weighing in on him as well. I take a look around and realize everyone is standing still, likely waiting for me to say something.

“Of course, why wouldn’t I?” I answer with a forced playful tone.

The truth is that I‘m feeling more anxious by the second, more nervous as every angry stare etches its image into my mind.

“Just asking. Let’s start, we have a big day ahead of us.”

He gently pats my back and turns towards a camera man. I stand there for a while, still puzzled by the behavior of the usually happy crew members.

I turn around and find Josh making his way to me, his face set in a neutral expression that’s definitely odd for him. I force a grin onto my face and he replies with a smile of his own that doesn’t quite reach his eyes. He greets me with a little head shake that seems too formal for us.

“Josh...” I whisper. “What’s going on?”

“You really have no idea?” he says in a hesitant voice. “Really?”

“Really! Everyone looks mad at me, what did I do?”

“Maybe... maybe they found out the truth, Jen. Regarding how you feel about working with us.”

I furrow my eyebrows, more confused than ever.

“What do you mean, the truth?”

“Don’t tell me Liz hasn’t told you? It’s been all over the news since last night...”

My heart gets heavy with dread, and I chance another look at the crew. They have stopped staring at me and are focused on their work, but their faces are all set in hard, cold expressions. Nobody says a word; the only noises in the warehouse are the sounds of the equipment being removed from their cases and installed on set. Josh grabs my hand and leads me to a secluded corner where we can talk freely without fearing to be overheard. With a sigh, he grabs his phone from his pocket, looks something up and hands me the device, looking away.

“There you go,” he says.

I take a look at the headline and gasp. “ _Jennifer Lawrence Treated Like_ Hunger Games _Slave_ ”.

“What’s that?”

“I don’t know,” he replies with gritted teeth. “You tell me.”

As I take in the contents of the article, I begin to realize what must have happened.

“Oh shit...” I mutter, handing Josh his phone back.

“So sorry working with us isn’t as gratifying as working with the great David O’Russell,” he adds bitterly.

“Josh! I never said that!”

“That guy doesn’t fucking know what it is doing a big franchise movie... or does he?”

His hurt, accusatory face is hitting me straight in the gut. I swallow hard and fight to keep the tears from coming out. I answer in a cracking voice.

“I never said anything like that... Josh, you know I love doing these movies, I love working with you guys... especially working with you...”

“So where did he get that idea that it was so fucking hard filming _Catching Fire_ , that shooting his own fucking movie instead of resting was like a real vacation for you? Or that this set was treating you like you were working in a sweatshop? Look, I know you probably didn’t come up with these... tasteless comparisons, but he got the idea somewhere. Isn’t it?”

I look away from Josh’s piercing gaze as I try to figure out if it might come from something I could have told him. No matter what I come up with, the only explanation is that he twisted my words terribly.

“I may have told him a few times that I was tired with all the promotion work,” I say in a small voice. “Nothing more.”

“Well, he makes it seem as if you don’t enjoy working with us. That what we’re doing here isn’t,” he adds, doing air quotes with his fingers, “’artistic’ enough for you to enjoy yourself. No wonder people here think they’re too low for you now.”

“Josh, you know that’s total bullshit, right?”

He sighs and looks away. I grab his arms desperately.

“Josh!”

When he finally turns his gaze back to me, what I find is disappointment.

“I don’t know what to think anymore, Jen,” he says, shaking his head sadly. “Especially after you said he made your career what it is the other day at the Globes...”

His look of hurt is hitting me like a ton of bricks. It never occurred to me that this speech could have wounded him that way.

“To be honest,” he adds, “People have been talking. These people were proud to work with you, Jen. They were proud to think you appreciated working with them. They were proud to think they had a little to do with your success. But now, it’s as if you didn’t give a fuck about these movies, you know? All this time, you couldn’t wait to wrap up so you could start working on a better project. So don’t expect them to be all happy working with you. They’ll do their job, nothing more.”

 “But I didn’t fucking say anything of the sort!” I almost yell, making a few people throw an exasperated look my way. “You know as much as I do that my speech at the Globes was an epic clusterfuck. I was so fucking nervous, I was shaking, I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t swallow, it was hell! And I was so freaking scared of forgetting to thank him again like I did at the Oscars last year!”

I look down, take a deep breath and lower my tone a little to avoid attracting more curious stares on us.

“The truth is that I owe him one. He’s the reason I got these awards and I forgot to thank him for that-“

“Is it worth it?”

We share a loaded gaze.

“Seriously, Jen, everyone in Hollywood knows how much of a jerk he is. Even the public knows... so is it worth getting attached to him so closely, just to get a few more awards?”

As I take in his judgmental stare, I feel myself crack. I turn around to avoid facing him, but everywhere, there are cast and crew members observing me like hawks. Finally, I walk a little farther away from them and lean my forehead against a wall as sobs I can’t control anymore begin to invade my whole body. Josh walks next to me and gently rubs my back, bringing his face close to mine.

“Jen... I’m sorry if I hurt you. I just wanted to be honest with you. You’ve seen how awkward it is this morning... I know you probably never expected that to happen. People have finally realized how hard it is for you to star in this franchise, so they’ll-“

“You want to know the truth Josh?”

“Always.”

I back off from the wall and turn to look at his inquiring face, fat tears rolling down my cheeks.

“Everything I’ve said during the press tour for _Catching Fire_ , that was all true. Yes, it’s exhausting, but I do love making these movies. I’m blessed they picked me for that part. And I really don’t want them to ever end.”

I wipe my eyes as Josh gently takes me in his arms, rubbing his warm hands all over my back. I breathe in his skin and cry harder. How could he, of all people, really think that I didn’t enjoy myself doing these movies? I’ve had so much fun with everybody since the beginning.

Especially with him.

I tighten my hold on his body and prepare myself to confide to him my biggest secret.

“I don’t know how to get away from him,” I whisper. “I owe him so much, and he’s so powerful in Hollywood... I don’t dare say no.”

Josh pulls away a little bit and gives me a worried stare.

“He hasn’t ever... you know?”

“No, no,” I reply. “But he wants me to star in all his future projects. And he knows how to pressure me into saying yes. He’d call me in the middle of the night just to blabber on this character that I will love, and that I will enjoy playing so badly, and he wouldn’t let go... And now, not only am I winning more awards thanks to him, but I also can’t help him push the film as much as I would be supposed to because I have other commitments... I can understand him for being angry...”

“He’s using you, Jen,” he says with a sad look. “He knows that having your name attached to his movies is gonna bring him critical acclaim and money... but if you’re not comfortable with this, there are other very talented directors who would love to work with you. And you know what? If they don’t want to work with you, let’s make our own movies together!”

His face turns into a genuine smile that I don’t have a choice but to reciprocate. He definitely knows how to cheer me up. I lean into his hand as he delicately rubs his thumb on my cheek.

“Seriously, though,” he adds in a low voice. “You deserve better than this. He’s treating you as if you were his property, and acting like a spoiled brat who can’t get what he wants. And by doing so, he’s making you look bad and hurting all these lovely people you’re working with. Do you want to be known in the business as the actress who looks down on popular movies?”

“No, of course not.”

“Then I think you should make it clear with them,” he says, pointing at the people waiting for the filming day to begin.

He hugs me again and I let a few more tears out, this time in gratitude for my best friend being there with me.

“Thank you,” I mutter, holding him as close to my body as I can.

“For what?”

“For being you.”

As I pull away, we share a small smile, and he finally grabs my hand to lead me back to the set. I resolutely walk on the stage, turn to share one last reassuring glance with Josh, and look ahead at the crowd of cast and crew staring at me with wary expressions. I take a deep breath and begin talking.

“Hi everybody. I know you must have all seen by now the comments a director I worked with made about my work conditions on this set. I want you to know that I never said anything of the sort. We all complain at one point or another that we had an exhausting day, but I never expected that he would blow these innocent comments out of proportion like that.”

I swallow hard and scan the crowd, hoping against hope for understanding faces. They all seem doubtful, and it feels like I’ve been cut by a knife. I really do love these people, and enjoy myself on this set. It kills me that they don’t believe me.

“I hope you will forgive me for not being more careful. You all know how much of a big mouth I have,” I say with a nervous chuckle that is returned by some people, to my biggest relief. “Please, believe me when I say that I never, one day, regretted accepting this role. And I have a lot of admiration for the hard work you do on this set every day. And I consider all of you to be part of my professional family.”

I spot Francis in the crowd, and his kind, soothing smile helps me to keep going.

“I love working with you guys,” I say, new tears forming at the corners of my eyes. “And I truly fear wrapping these movies. Truly. Not only because of Josh. Because of you all as well. And it may be hard work, but I’ve never been better treated than on this set.”

I glance at Josh, who is looking at me with glassy eyes. I take in the stares of the cast and crew observing me, and I find that most of them seem moved, almost to tears.

“I love you, guys,” I say in a cracking voice, wiping my eyes quickly. “I truly do. I hope you will forgive me for this misunderstanding.”

I can’t stand it anymore. I run down the steps into Josh’s waiting arms and hide my face in his shoulder, weeping openly. He cups my head with his hand and whispers in my ear.

“Shhh... it’s alright Jen. You did it. They got it. No one is blaming you now that you’ve made things clear.”

Suddenly, I start hearing a single clapping sound, quickly followed by the rest of the crew. I turn around and see everyone clapping and watching me with sympathetic looks.

“See, I told you they’d understand,” Josh says quietly.

I turn to face him and take in his handsome face. He’s staring at me with an adoring expression, his eyes still bright with tears but also with pride. He’s giving me his best smile, the one that makes me feel butterflies that I always try to push far down into the depths of my being. I find myself longing for his presence by my side all the time, craving the steadiness of his strong arms, starving for his warmth around my body.

I’ve been fighting this for so long. But in moments like this, when he reminds me why I always think of him as my rock, the only thing I wish I could do is to abandon myself to him.

But I know I can’t.

And so I settle for a quick moment just for us, as I enjoy the feeling of his arms holding me, our foreheads pressed against each other’s, and let out a statement that I wish he’d truly get the whole meaning of, for once.

“I love you,” I murmur, my eyes tightly shut and my mouth so close to his, I can almost feel the fleeting sensation of his lips grazing mine.

“I love you,” he replies in an impossibly low voice that triggers a storm of feelings inside my body.

And in that moment, I wonder if he doesn’t, finally, understand what I’ve been trying to tell him for so long.


End file.
